02 December, 2008

Piece-ful Day, With Dividends!

Our home is sad and lonely, Mason-the-magnificent has returned to his home in the Capital City. The weather yesterday was cold and gray, the perfect time to return to the studio and spend some well-deserved time piecing. I had yet another children's quilt on the list of tops to complete and finished it up in the afternoon. This is one more Picture Play quilt from the book of the same name, by Ami Simms. I've done a LOT of these, you may gather that from my extensive (obsessive?) collection of novelty prints! This one, "Sweet Dreams", uses two, three, and four inch squares; the canine embellishment is optional. So, what dividends am I receiving? Aside from this finished quilt top and a piece-ful (smile) day at home, I have a stack of scrappy sixteen-patch blocks waiting to be set into a future project with alternating snowball blocks, thanks to Bonnie-of-Quiltville's "leader-ender" technique. Dipping into my bin of two inch squares and sewing a pair together at the start and stop of each row (and then sewing those pairs to each other, and so on and so on...) pays off, big time! I use less thread (no "tails") and, have pieced the blocks for a brand new quilt, all at the same time. In my mind at least, those few things pay back as huge dividends!

Hannes is the perfect touch to any quilt! I must confess, I sat and stared at that quilt for the longest time, looking at each and every square and the treasure that it holds. It brings out the kid in me, that's for sure! The sixteen-patch blocks are going to be lovely however you decide to use them. You certainly found a wonderful way to spend your lonely hours. Dividends, indeed!